‘Arrow’ Recap: Burning Love

Arrow, you’ve been back for .02 seconds, and already you’ve made me the happiest girl in the world. If you know me at all, you know the words I’m about to type… THE SALMON LADDER IS BACK.

Thank you, everyone and anyone who had a hand in tonight’s episode. The rest of the plot could have been Oliver sitting in a boring business meeting for the entire episode, and I still would have been content. THE SALMON LADDER IS BACK. Please have this in every episode forever. Please. Ok, let’s get back to the actual story, shall we?

So while it seemed like we were just getting our usual shots of Oliver working out and honing his archery skills, something seemed… off. Yes, Oliver had lost his groove. It seems like though Oliver has recovered from his Dark Archer beatdown physically, he’s still not all there mentally. Oliver is off his game. Crap.

In other, non-Arrow-related news, Walter is still kidnapped missing, and six weeks have passed. Everyone is assuming the worst. Even Oliver has that look, that we-are-all-thinking-the-same-thing-Walter-is-dead-but-no-one-wants-to-be-the-first-one-to-say-it look. Am I the only one that remembers that Oliver was missing and presumed dead for five whole years, and he came aback alive! Clearly, everyone’s attention spans suck. Gotta hand it to Moira, though: she sure can act. She knows exactly where Walter is, and that he’ll be returned in six months. But why? And where is he being held in the interim?

Meanwhile, in our villain of the week storyline, we finally got to meet Firefly. It seems as if someone has been sneaking into fires and offing certain firefighters that all were present at some big disastrous fire years ago. One of the victims: Laurel’s coworker’s brother. After some digging they find out these are no accidents, and so Laurel steals the phone Arrow gave to her dad last episode, and solicits his help. Too bad Arrow’s on hiatus. Even Starling City is noticing his absence, and they’re upset about it. And so begins the journey from vigilante to hero.

Now that Laurel has a direct line to Arrow, the story is starting to seem a little… familiar. Is this not how Lois Lane and the Blur started their love affair on Smallville? Yes, yes it is. A certain phone that can’t be traced, a voice disguiser, the vigilante helping the girl he loves even though she doesn’t know the masked man and her ex are one and the same… Yeah, it’s Smallville all over again. But hey, we aren’t complaining! We loved that show for a reason.

Though it takes some coaxing (and some pouting! Let’s have Stephen Amell pout some more on this show. That was a beautiful sight), poking, prodding, and all around dragging him kicking and screaming, Diggle finally gets Oliver to Arrow-up, and take down the rogue firefighter. Turns out Firefly was in the disastrous fire years ago, and his captain ordered everyone to abandon the lost cause, and he got stuck in the fire, badly burned and presumed dead. I still don’t understand why Firefly decided going after his fellow firefighters was the right course of action. I understand seeking revenge on the man who left you to die, but the other guys didn’t do anything wrong! When Arrow finally cornered him, Firefly set himself on fire, unable to face life.

With the Firefly out of commission, Laurel offers the phone back to her dad, but he tells her to keep it. If Arrow keeps saving her, then Det. Lance is okay with their connection… oh wait, JUST KIDDING. He had a tech guy install something or other in the phone so now he can listen in on their conversations. I guess he still hasn’t lightened up on the whole vigilante thing.

Back to the Walter storyline, Moira finally decides to take his spot as CEO of Queen Consolidated, and Thea is a little surprised at how quickly she changed her mind. I guess Moira isn’t as good as an actor as she thought: she was moping around, mourning Walter, and then just like that she seemed fine and ready for action. If Thea is the first person to figure out Moira’s behind everything, I will be so impressed. It’s about time she was given an actual storyline that didn’t involve whining!

But the superstar of tonight’s midseason premiere: Diggle. He stopped at nothing to get Oliver back in his green hood, trying everything from physically fighting him to analyzing why Oliver was in a funk. The best point he had: Oliver is stronger now than he was on the island, because he has something to lose, aka something to fight for – his family and loved ones. He’s less reckless, and more meaningful in his actions. And finally, Diggle got through. Oliver hooded up, with a smile on his face, brandishing his father’s list to Diggle: it’s time to go hunting. He’s baaaaaack!